Charging apparatus.



H. J. ROWE.

CHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1912.

1,07 ,70 Patented 0011.28, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR 17'' a/my A TTORNEYS WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANOORAPHCD.,WASHINUTON, D. c.

H. J. ROWE.

CHARGING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIQN FILED AUG. 24, 1M2.

1,076,706. Patented 001:. 28, 1913.

32HBETS-SHEBT 2.

WITNESSES INVENTOR 3% ffM/"y f Ran/e;

ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON. D c.

H. J. ROWE. CHARGING APPARATUS.

I APPLICATION FILED 11116.24, 1912.

1,076,706. v Patented 0@n.28,191s.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT UTTTQTL HARRY JOSEPH ROWE, OF NEW KENfi-INGTON,PENNSYLVANIA.

CHARGING APPARATU$.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, HARRY J. Rows, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New Kensington, in the county of l Vestmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Charging Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention comprises a device for charging furnaces by supplying fueland other materials thereto, and it comprises certain improvementswhereby the load can be carried to the supply opening of the furnace andautomatically delivered to the interior of the same as soon as thecarrier on which the load is placed reaches the supply opening.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which the same characters of reference indicatethe same parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the center of mycharging apparatus and showing the furnace and the manner in which thecharging apparatus is mounted with respect to the same. Fig. 2 is ahori- Zontal section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview of the charging apparatus taken on a plane passing centrallytherethrough at right-angles to the plane of section on Fig. 1; Fig. lis a section on the line e it of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a top plan and Fig. 6is a detail view partly in section, showing the manner in which the gatecontrolling the supply opening is mounted.

My invention is used in connection with a furnace 1, which may have anarched top 2 and be provided with a supply opening 3 located at anyconvenient point. This opening is supplied by means of a carrier whichmoves along guide rails 4:. These guide rails are shown as vertical, andare three in number, secured together at their upper ends by means of atriangular framework 5 arranged at the top of the side wall of thefurnace and held in place by means of tie rods 6 passing through bothside walls of the furnace and through a cross-bar 7 at the oppositeends, this cross-bar being sup ported upon vertical rails 8 on theopposite side, so that the sides of the furnace will at Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed August 24, 1912.

Patented Oct. 28,1913.

Serial No. 716,833.

all times be prevented from bulging out- Ward.

The supply opening 3 is controlled by means of a sliding gate whichmoves up and down in vertical slots 9 in the adjacent side rails 1-, andthis gate comprises a retangular frame 10 of metal, which is filled inwith firebrick 11. The upper side of this frame is secured to a bar 12,the ends of which project into the slots 9 above noted.

The carrier or elevator which supplies the furnace through the dischargeopening 3 is shown at 13, and this elevator is preferably provided withrollers 14: at the back near the top thereof, mounted upon a transverseshaft 15. These rollers are flanged and engage the rails 4; and assistto guide the platform or elevator in its up and down movements. Thefront of the carriage also carries a third roller 16 arranged centrallythereof and in the same horizontal plane as the rollers let. This roller16 is mounted upon a short shaft 17 carried in hearings in a casing 18supported by the elevator, and it engages the third or front rail 4. Asimilar centrally-located roller is located below the roller 16, and inthe plane of this lastnamed roller are supplemental rollers 19 carriedby short shafts 20 which rotate in bearings 21 formed in the sides ofthe elevator 13. These rollers 19 engage the back rails 4t, and thecarriage 13 is thus guided by three upper and three lower rollers, twoin back and one in front in each case, pass ing along the rails 1- inits up and down movements.

The platform may be provided with an upper floor 22 and a lower floor23, the upper floor having vertical ribs 2 t extending upward therefromand fro-m the back to the front of the elevator, these ribs havingapertures through which the shaft 15 passes. Similar ribs 25 may becarried by the lower floor 23, the short shafts 2O terminating outsideof these ribs. These ribs and the floors which carry them strengthen theelevator or carriage, as will be readily understood The carrier israised and lowered by means of a cylinder 26, to which the motive agentis supplied by means of a conduit 27.

In this cylinder moves a piston 28, the rod 29 of which passes throughan aperture in the lower floor 23 of the carrier, and is rigidly securedto the upper floor 22. hen this piston rises it carries the carrier upwith it, and when the motive agent is with drawn from the cylinder itlowers the carrier. The lower floor 23 has an enlarged opening 30therein to give passage to rod 29.

The carrier 13 is provided with a tilting table 31, this table alsohaving a rim around its edges, and it is mounted to oscillate upon aspindle 32 mounted in bearings 33 formed in the sides of the carrier 13.A suitable bearing in the form of a sleeve 3 1 is secured to the bottomof this table in line with the bearings 33, so as to mount this tableupon the spindle in the proper manner.

The table is tilted by means of a chain 35 secured to a lug 36 on thebottom at the end adjacent the furnace wall. This chain is anchored to astaple 37 at its lower end, and passes through apertures 38 in thefloors 22 and 23 of the carrier 13.

lVhen the furnace is to be charged the carrier is loaded by heaping fuelor other materials, such as metals to be melted upon the table 31 andcompressed air or steam, or even water power may be then supplied to thecylinder 26, to raise the piston 28. At this time the table will be kepthorizontal, owing to the weight of the load upon it, the spindle 32 notbeing centrally located with respect to this table, whereby one edge ofthe same will rest upon the upper casing 18 for the gear 16.Furthermore, the gate will be in such position that it will close thesupply opening 3, the weight thereof causing it to hang in such aposition that the ends of the bar 12 will be at the lower ends of theslots 9. Vihen the carrier 13 rises, however, it will engage the loweredge of the gate and push the same upward to uncover the supply opening3. Then the supply opening has been uncovered the chain 35 will becometaut, tilting the table and causing the load thereon to slide off thesame through the opening 3 into the furnace.

I prefer to arrange the parts so that normally the cylinder 26 will bebelow the level of the bed of the furnace, and to this end I excavate apit shown at 39 and line the same with brick or any suitable materialshown at 10. The cylinder may be of any desired length, and the opening30 in the lower floor thereof may be wide enough to allow the upper endof the cylinder to pass therethrough. Consequently, when it is desiredto load the table the carrier may be allowed to'sink far enough to bringthe table 31 approximately to the level of the ground.

My invention is preferably intended for use in supplying fuel tofurnaces, but ohviously it is not restricted to this field alone.

I may use it under any conditions that requirethe transportation ofmaterials and the automatic delivery of the same from the carrier whenthe end of the travel of the latter is reached; and while I have shownthe carrier as mounted to move vertically on the drawings, I do not wishto be limited to this vertical movement, as under some conditions it maybe necessary to move the fuel or whatever else is carried by the table13 in a horizontal or slanting direction instead.

My invention is especially useful in connection with tin meltingfurnaces and other plants used, for the purpose of fusing metals. hen Iuse my invention toaccomplish such objects the metals which are to beworked are loaded upon the platform 31.

I desire to have it understood further that the above description isillustrative only and discloses but one embodiment of my invention; thatI do not care to be limited to the exact details thereof, but wish toreserve to myself the right to make such changes inthe shape, size andarrangement of the parts as fairly come within the scope and spirit ofmy invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. The combination of a slidable gate closing an opening with a carrier,comprising an upper floor and a lower floor; vertical rails at theopposite side of said carrier; guide wheels mounted on the carrierengaging said rails, the lower floor having an aperture therethrough; aplunger secured to the upper floor and projecting through the saidaperture in the lower floor; a cylinder receiving said plunger andadapted to enter said carrier through said aperture in the lower floor;means associated with said cylinder for reciprocating said plungerwhereby said carrier when raised comes directly in contact with saidgate and raises same, exposing the opening; a tiltable platform on theupper floor of said carrier; and flexible means for operating saidplatform toward said opening when said opening is exposed by saidcarrier.

2. The combination of a vertical, slidable gate closing an opening witha carrier comprising an upper and a lower floor; vertical rails at theopposite sides of said carrier; guide wheels mounted on the carrierengaging said rails, the lower floor having an aperture therethrough; arod secured to the upper floor and projecting through said aperture inthe lower floor; a piston mounted on the lower end of said rod; acylinder receiving said piston and rod and adapted to enter said carrierthrough said opening in the lower floor; means for supplying andwithdrawing a motive agent to said cylinder to raise and lower the saidcarrier, said carrier When raised coming directly in corn In testimonywhereof I have signed my tact with said gate and raising same, exname tothis specification in the presence of posing the openlng; a tiltableplatform on tWo subscribing Witnesses.

the upper floor of said carrier; and flexible HARRY JOSEPH ROWE. 5 meansfor operating said platform toward Witnesses:

said opening when said opening is exposed MEAD J. MULVIHILL,

to said carrier. GEO. B. CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

